Signalers’ ability to avoid, repel, or attract predators, competitors, and
potential mates has played a critical role in the evolution of their acoustic
signals, including the mechanisms that produce them. A comprehensive
answer to the question “why do birds sing?” or “why do deer roar?” will
always go beyond the proximate mechanisms to the ultimate function, the
selective value that allowed singing or roaring animals to outreproduce their
mute conspecifics. As pointed out long ago by Tinbergen (1963), these two
perspectives, proximate and ultimate, are complementary. Each provides a
rich source of insights and testable hypotheses that the other does not. We
believe that vertebrate acoustic communication provides numerous model
systems that are ideally suited to integrating these two perspectives and that
such integration will prove vital in understanding the remarkable diversity
of acoustic signals and the mechanisms that produce them.
Acknowledgments. This work was supported by NIH/NIDCD Grant T32
DC00038 to WTF and NSF Grants SBR-9602858 and SBR-9357976 to
MDH. We gratefully acknowledge the comments of the editors, Asif
Ghazanfar, Hanspeter Herzel, Philip Lieberman, Tobias Riede, David
Reby, Mike Ryan, and Brad Story on an earlier version of the manuscript.
References
Alcantara M, Diaz M, Pulido FJP (1991) Variabilidad en las relaciones alométricas
entre el peso y las medidas craneales en el raton de campo Apodemus sylvaticus
L. Efectos sobre su utilidad en estudios de ecologia trofica de aves rapaces.
Doñana, Acta Vertebrata 18:205–216.
Amadon D (1969) Variation in the trachea of the Cracidae (Galliformes) in relation to their classification. Nat Hist Bull Siam Soc 23:239–248.
Andrew RJ (1976) Use of formants in the grunts of baboons and other nonhuman
primates. Ann N Y Acad Sci 280:673–693.
Asquith A, Altig R (1990) Male call frequency as a criterion for female choice in
Hyla cinerea. J Herpetol 24:198–201.
August PV, Anderson JGT (1987) Mammal sounds and motivation-structural rules:
A test of the hypothesis. J Mammal 68:1–9.
Baken RJ (1987) Clinical measurement of speech and voice. Boston: Little, Brown
and Co.
Bass AH (1989) Evolution of vertebrate motor systems for acoustic and electric
communication: Peripheral and central elements. Brain Behav Evol 33:237–247.
Bass AH, Baker R (1997) Phenotypic specification of hindbrain rhombomeres and
the origins of rhythmic circuits in vertebrates. Brain Behav Evol 50:3–16.
Bauer HR (1987) Frequency code: Orofacial correlates of fundamental frequency.
Phonetica 44:173–191.
Beckford NS, Rood SR, Schaid D (1985) Androgen stimulation and laryngeal development. Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol 94:634–640.
Beil RG (1962) Frequency analysis of vowels produced in a helium-rich atmosphere.
J Acoust Soc Am 34:347–349.
3. Unpacking “Honesty”
125
potential mates has played a critical role in the evolution of their acoustic
signals, including the mechanisms that produce them. A comprehensive
answer to the question “why do birds sing?” or “why do deer roar?” will
always go beyond the proximate mechanisms to the ultimate function, the
selective value that allowed singing or roaring animals to outreproduce their
mute conspecifics. As pointed out long ago by Tinbergen (1963), these two
perspectives, proximate and ultimate, are complementary. Each provides a
rich source of insights and testable hypotheses that the other does not. We
believe that vertebrate acoustic communication provides numerous model
systems that are ideally suited to integrating these two perspectives and that
such integration will prove vital in understanding the remarkable diversity
of acoustic signals and the mechanisms that produce them.
Acknowledgments. This work was supported by NIH/NIDCD Grant T32
DC00038 to WTF and NSF Grants SBR-9602858 and SBR-9357976 to
MDH. We gratefully acknowledge the comments of the editors, Asif
Ghazanfar, Hanspeter Herzel, Philip Lieberman, Tobias Riede, David
Reby, Mike Ryan, and Brad Story on an earlier version of the manuscript.
References
Alcantara M, Diaz M, Pulido FJP (1991) Variabilidad en las relaciones alométricas
entre el peso y las medidas craneales en el raton de campo Apodemus sylvaticus
L. Efectos sobre su utilidad en estudios de ecologia trofica de aves rapaces.
Doñana, Acta Vertebrata 18:205–216.
Amadon D (1969) Variation in the trachea of the Cracidae (Galliformes) in relation to their classification. Nat Hist Bull Siam Soc 23:239–248.
Andrew RJ (1976) Use of formants in the grunts of baboons and other nonhuman
primates. Ann N Y Acad Sci 280:673–693.
Asquith A, Altig R (1990) Male call frequency as a criterion for female choice in
Hyla cinerea. J Herpetol 24:198–201.
August PV, Anderson JGT (1987) Mammal sounds and motivation-structural rules:
A test of the hypothesis. J Mammal 68:1–9.
Baken RJ (1987) Clinical measurement of speech and voice. Boston: Little, Brown
and Co.
Bass AH (1989) Evolution of vertebrate motor systems for acoustic and electric
communication: Peripheral and central elements. Brain Behav Evol 33:237–247.
Bass AH, Baker R (1997) Phenotypic specification of hindbrain rhombomeres and
the origins of rhythmic circuits in vertebrates. Brain Behav Evol 50:3–16.
Bauer HR (1987) Frequency code: Orofacial correlates of fundamental frequency.
Phonetica 44:173–191.
Beckford NS, Rood SR, Schaid D (1985) Androgen stimulation and laryngeal development. Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol 94:634–640.
Beil RG (1962) Frequency analysis of vowels produced in a helium-rich atmosphere.
J Acoust Soc Am 34:347–349.
3. Unpacking “Honesty”
125